What does a thyroid functional medicine doctor do differentially

[Dr. Anshul Gupta]

A thyroid functional medicine doctor makes a comprehensive plan to heal your thyroid in a more natural way. Thyroid disorders incidence is rising at a rapid rate in the last decade. We are seeing that more and more females are being diagnosed with thyroid disorders. It is a worldwide problem and it is estimated that 10% of the world population suffer from thyroid disorders. Researchers are perplexed by this sudden rise in thyroid disorders and are still looking for answers. This is where functional medicine has been helpful as their protocols have been able to help several thyroid patients.

 

What are different kinds of thyroid disorders?

 

There are different kinds of thyroid disorders, but the most common is hypothyroidism or low thyroid.

1. Hypothyroidism: This is a condition where your thyroid gland is not able to produce enough thyroid hormone to meet the body’s demand. This is typically treated by a medicine called levothyroxine. The causes of hypothyroidism can be iodine deficiency or Hashimoto’s disease.
2. Hyperthyroidism or Graves disease. This is an autoimmune condition in which your thyroid gland produces excessive thyroid hormone. The typical symptoms are bulging eyes, palpitations, anxiety, excessive sweating, or feeling hot all the time.
3. Hashimoto’s Disease: This is an autoimmune disease of your thyroid gland, where your body produces antibodies to destroy your thyroid gland. This ultimately leads to hypothyroidism as your thyroid gland is being destroyed. Conventionally there is no treatment available for Hashimoto’s, so most of the females are told to return back when their thyroid is destroyed completely and then started on thyroid hormone medicine.

 

Have you ever wondered why did you get thyroid disorder?

 

If you have been diagnosed with a thyroid disorder then you might have wondered why did you get it. But I am sure your doctor was not able to answer this question. The reason being conventional medicine doesn’t have answers to this question. But the new research is suggesting that thyroid disorders are the result of an interplay between your genes and the environment around you. Here the environment around you includes the food you eat, the amount of stress you get exposed to, the quality of sleep you get, the kind of toxins you have been exposed to.

 

The interesting part is that each and every individual react to these environmental factors differently. So every individual has a different environmental factor that triggered her thyroid disorder. A thyroid functional medicine doctor helps you to identify the environmental factor that triggered your thyroid disorder. Functional medicine is a “root cause medicine”, what this means is that it helps to identify the underlying cause of your thyroid disorder. Once we have identified the reason for your thyroid disorder then it becomes so much easier to work on it and reverse your disease.

 

 

Conventional vs thyroid functional medicine doctor

 

There are certain differences in how a conventional doctor will approach a thyroid disorder as compared to a thyroid functional medicine doctor. The biggest difference being the only treatment that a conventional doctor can offer is levothyroxine medicine. On the other hand thyroid functional medicine doctor offers a comprehensive plan that offers better results. This comprehensive plan will include a diet specific for thyroid patients, supplements needed to help the thyroid, and other natural forms of thyroid medicines.

 

It is often seen that even after being on the treatment with levothyroxine, females continue to suffer from unresolved symptoms. With a functional medicine approach, we are not only able to resolve symptoms, but often able to get rid of the medicine itself.

 

So a thyroid functional medicine doctor works on the “ Why “ of your thyroid disorder. This leads to better results, and also improves the quality of life of thyroid patients.

 

Conventional Doctor	Thyroid functional medicine doctor
The only treatment he will offer is levothyroxine	They make a comprehensive plan to help address the underlying cause of your thyroid, that will help to reverse your thyroid condition
They do very limiting tests, which most often doesn’t evaluate thyroid completely	They do complete and in depth thyroid testing so that your thyroid is completely evaluated. Please read this post about functional medicine thyroid ranges.
Often conventional treatment doesn’t help to resolve the symptoms like fatigue, weight problems, hair fall	Functional medicine protocols will not only treat it naturally but also will help get rid of the symptoms associated with thyroid disorder.
There is no testing done to look for the root cause of thyroid	Advanced testing is done to look for the root cause of your thyroid problem. Read more about advanced functional testing here.

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